Forever and Always
by pipermclean-beautyqueen
Summary: They closed their eyes, and once again, they could see her beautiful smile. Even death couldn't stop her from living. As long as they remembered her, she would live through them. They knew she was with them forever and always.


**OOC, kinda depressing, not edited... Just warning you guys. But it's not that bad if you don't mind the OOCness and depressingness (is there a word for that?). I'm pretty sure there's no errors. Whenever I don't edit, I get spell check to do it for me. I know, lazy... but it works!**

**They're all human in this. No gods.**

* * *

It was supposed to be fun. Enjoyable. Relaxing. Paradise. An experience they'd never forget.

But was it fun? No.

Enjoyable? No.

Relaxing? Definitely no.

Paradise? Far from it.

But they weren't forgetting this experience anytime soon. It was a moment that would be seared into their minds until the end of their lives. How could they forget?

How could they even live?

It was like time had stopped completely. It happened so fast, but it happened so agonizingly slow.

Blood. It had been spilt everywhere. Bright red blood. Everything and everyone was stained red. A river of red flowed down the road. Mixed with spilled gas, the smell was sickening.

The shrill sounds of approaching sirens rang through the air. They could barely be heard though, as the cries of pain and desperation were louder. None of the bystanders had ever heard such heartache.

It was too painful to watch.

But they would only feel the pain for this one night. For the people that were crying their hearts out, the pain was everlasting. It would never go away.

It felt like a movie. A dramatic movie. It was drawing in all the strangers.

A little girl crept around her parents and gasped when she saw the bloody mess. She tried to understand why all the adults were crying. Her seven year old mind didn't understand much of what she saw, but she did know one thing.

The person they were surrounding, the one covered in blood, the one laying limp on the ground…

The person was dead.

Getting confused? Let's start at the beginning of this story.

* * *

"Now, let's get going!" Silena screamed. She ran into the van as her friends laughed at her excitement. But of course, they were all excited themselves.

The seven friends were getting ready for the trip of a lifetime. A small and inexpensive trip, yes, but it was the last time they would all get to do something fun together before heading off to different universities.

A month long road trip with your best friends. Who wouldn't love that?

"Silena, please remind me again why we decided to meet at four in the morning," Percy whined, earning him a playful smack from Annabeth, his girlfriend of nearly two years.

"To avoid traffic. Now hurry up! Let's get this trip started!" Despite their annoyance at having to wake up so early, Silena's excitement was contagious. Ten minutes later, loud and purposely off-key singing could be heard from the van.

Luke was chosen as the group's first driver. Sitting beside him was Thalia. Behind them, in the middle, were Silena and Beckendorf. And squished in the back were Percy, Annabeth, and Nico.

"I can't wait to spend a whole month with you," Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear. She couldn't help but let a soft giggle escape from her mouth as his lips started moving down her neck.

"Gross!" Nico yelled. "No PDA. Please!"

Realizing what had been going on behind him, Beckendorf turned around. With a laugh, he said, "Percy and Annabeth sitting in a tree..."

Percy turned bright red, but Annabeth only smirked. "Tell me truthfully that you don't want to kiss Silena," she said to Beckendorf, who was growing redder by the second. "Then, you can feel free to tease us all you want."

Nervously rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, Beckendorf turned back around while Silena leaned on his shoulder. They had been together for even longer than Percy and Annabeth.

"Thought so," Annabeth whispered to Percy.

Beside her, Nico groaned. "Please don't tell me the entire trip isn't going to be like this. If I see any more PDA, I'm going to puke."

"This is going to be one hell of a ride!" Luke said from the front.

One week later, everything went wrong. Six teens had their perfect lives ripped from them. One had their life was ripped from them completely.

* * *

He stared down at his hands. They were dripping with the tears he had just cried, and as he felt more coming, he groaned and fell back onto his bed. He couldn't face it.

He couldn't face reality.

Closing his eyes, he could hear the pitiful screams. He could smell the death in the air. He could see the blood on his hands, his clothes, his face.

It was all too much.

"Charlie?" a soft voice said. He turned around and looked into the beautiful blue eyes that he had fallen in love with.

He couldn't help it. The tears started pouring down his face again. "Charlie," Silena moaned, tears running down her own face. He wrapped his arms around her.

Sobbing into his chest, Silena cried out, "It… it hurts. It hurts so much, Charlie. Make it stop. Make it stop! I… just… I can't!"

He just held her close, knowing he couldn't make it stop. He couldn't make the pain go away for Silena, himself, or any of his friends. The heart wrenching pain was killing them all.

They were scarred for life.

* * *

"Thalia," Luke said. "Come on, it's time." Luke sat down on Thalia's bed, shaking her gently. "They need us, and we need to go help them get through this. We have to go for our friends."

Thalia Grace turned around. Her eyes, sore from crying, flickered open.

She had never felt so empty.

It had been days since she last ate. Luke and Nico had tried to feed her, practically shoving food down her throat. She hardly moved, rarely leaving the bed. Nothing could make her eat. Nothing could make her move.

And nothing could take the pain away.

Luke, Nico, and Thalia had decided to stick together for now. They got two hotel rooms and had been staying there. The others were staying with family, but these three had no one but their friends.

"I can't say goodbye. Luke, I can't do it," Thalia whispered. Luke brushed away the tears in his eyes. Seeing her like that made him feel like someone had taken his heart and torn it to pieces.

"We have to go," Nico said, walking up from behind Luke. "Our friends need us." The three friends were a proud and independent group, but they all were thinking the same thing: we need them.

"I'm going for them," Nico said. "We all feel the pain, but we're going to get through this together."

* * *

"Don't leave me."

Percy felt too much pain. And he couldn't stop it. The pain was killing him, eating away at his insides until there was nothing there.

"I need you more than ever," he said, unable to keep from crying. It was just too hard.

"I know," Annabeth said, gently stroking his cheek. "I'm not leaving you Percy. Not ever. I love you, Percy."

"I love you too." He had to tell her. After what had happened, he learned not to take what he had for granted. He had to tell her before he loses her. "I love you so much."

For a moment, they were silent. They held onto each other, afraid of losing the other. "It's not going to go away, is it," Percy finally said. "The pain, it's not going to go away."

"It'll get better," Annabeth said. "In time, it'll get better. But for now, it hurts like hell."

"As long as we're together, it'll hurt a little less," Percy whispered.

He felt his true love nodding as she buried her head into his shoulder. He could barely hear her whisper back, "As long as we're together."

* * *

The remaining six sat at the church, listening to the priest's words. Too soon, it was their turn to speak.

"I'm not ready," Silena whispered. She started shaking, and Beckendorf wrapped his arms around her. "I can't do this. Charlie…"

"I'll be right there with you," he whispered to his soon-to-be wife. "Come on baby, you'll be fine." To give her time to calm down, he spoke first.

"It's amazing and overwhelming standing up here and seeing so many people. But it's no surprise this person affected so many of you. She was special, one of a kind, and we all knew that. A week ago, we lost not just a friend, but a part of us." Feeling Silena nudge him, he stepped aside, letting her talk.

"I feel honoured to have been her friend. She was so brave, smart, beautiful. She changed so many lives for the better, including mine. And I know she's smiling down at us as I speak. I'll love her and miss her for the rest of my life."

Feeling as if she was going to collapse, she gripped onto Beckendorf as they walked off the platform. She nodded at Thalia as she passed by her. Thalia gave her a feeble smile as she walked up to say what she had to say.

When she saw the crowd of sobbing people, she froze. Everyone waited for her to speak.

Finally, she managed to find her voice. "She was a fighter," Thalia said. "She was my family. My sister. She gave me light in the darkness. She gave me hope in my despair. She gave me wisdom when I needed it. I'm sure she's done this for so many others. All those moments that meant so little before have so much meaning now. She was my best friend, and she always will be. Nothing's going to change that."

One by one, the rest of the six went up to say their last goodbyes. Others from the crowd went up and presented their own short speech.

Soon enough, it was Percy's turn. He went over the words he planned to say in his head. Slowly, he walked up onto the platform.

He couldn't do it.

His eyes scanned through the crowd until he saw her face. "Go on," she mouthed. "We're in this together." He nodded, and spoke.

"I had a whole speech written out. After all, a certain someone told me I should always have a plan." Despite the situation, chuckles rang out from the crowd, as everyone knew what he was talking about. In the crowd, he could see Annabeth rolling her eyes, but he continued.

"But I'm just going to speak from my heart. This person is my world. She may be gone, but she'll live on forever in our minds and in our hearts. As long as we remember her, she'll live through us. It kills me to know that I'll never be able to speak to her again. Hear her laugh again. See her beautiful smile again. But she doesn't feel any more pain where she is now."

Percy closed his eyes. "I love you Annabeth Chase." And in his head, that fateful night replayed itself.

* * *

_It was his turn to drive. Percy and Annabeth were sitting at the front of the car, while everyone else was asleep in the back._

_"Look out!" she screamed. Her grey eyes grew wide with fright and Percy realized her face was getting lighter. Turning his head back to face the front, he realized it was because of the approaching headlights. _

_It all happened too quickly. _

_The glass shattered in front of him. _

_He screamed._

_She screamed._

_Blood._

_So much blood._

_The world became a blur of colours._

_It flew at his head._

_A piece of glass._

_He cried out in pain as it struck into his face._

_Blood._

_It was everywhere._

_Thalia, looking dazed, was covered in a patchwork of cuts and bruises._

_Luke, a large gash on his left arm was gushing with blood and his face began to grow pale._

_Silena, her beautiful face was drenched in a mixture of her tears and blood._

_Beckendorf, bleeding heavily himself from numerous cuts, had his arms wrapped around Silena._

_Nico, though he was saved when Beckendorf lifted the door of the van off him, was covered in so much blood it was impossible to tell where it was all coming from._

_Then, it hit him._

_Annabeth._

_He stood up, blindly tearing through the junk around him. He had to find her._

_Where was she?_

_Finally, he lifted up part of the van. And there she was. _

_She was broken._

_Fragile. _

_Dying._

_"Annabeth? Annabeth!" Percy's cries drew in the rest of the group of friends and they all gasped at what they saw._

_Her grey eyes flickered open. She gasped in pain. A particularly large shard of glass had plunged itself into her stomach. "Percy…" she whispered._

_The sirens grew louder. An ambulance was coming. Though it was obvious no doctor could save her now, Percy still said, "Don't worry Annabeth. The ambulance is coming. You'll be fine."_

_She shook her head. "How stupid of me to wear white tonight of all nights," she said as she looked down at the blood staining her white shirt. "I guess I can't be smart all the time."_

_"Help is on the way. Annabeth, you have to stay with me. The doctors will mend you up. I-"_

_"No," Annabeth whispered, her voice becoming weaker. "It's too late. You know that."_

_The five other friends, who haven't spoken a word, all knelt down at Annabeth's side. "You can't know that," Thalia spoke through her tears. "Annabeth, you're going to live! You can't leave us."_

_"Thalia, just stay with me," Annabeth said. "All you guys, stay with me. I couldn't have asked for better friends. I… I love all you guys." They all realized what was happening. _

_She was saying goodbye._

_Percy cried out as he saw her eyes losing focus. "Percy?" She beckoned for him to lean down. He did as she wanted. Mustering up all her strength, she pressed her lips against his._

_A final kiss._

_Her breathing started growing uneven. "Percy, I love you so much."_

_His vision started blurring. He wiped away his tears, wanting to see her beautiful face._

_"I love you too. I'll love you forever and always."_

_With one last smile, she repeated his words. "Forever and always."_

* * *

"Meeting her for the first time was the start of my life. Asking her to be my girlfriend was the scariest thing I've ever done. Our first kiss was like magic. Loving her was the best thing that happened to me."

Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver ring. Everyone gasped as it glistened in the sunlight.

"I was going to wait until the end of our trip, but I couldn't wait. That night was supposed to be the night." Percy knelt down in front of the box that held her body. "Annabeth Chase, I don't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone but you."

He put the ring on her chest and planted a kiss on her cold cheek. There wasn't one dry eye as he said his next words.

"Annabeth, will you marry me? I want to live my life with you. Together forever and always."

* * *

**This was written right before a funeral... I guess I didn't know what to do, so I wrote this. When I read it over, some of it sounded like a mess. But I decided to keep it like this.**

**Review!**


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